JYP & HYBE Dominate Overseas K-pop Sales, SM Triumphs in Domestic Sales, What About YG? 

As K-pop idol groups increasingly target overseas markets to achieve greater growth in the fiercely competitive domestic market, the proportions of export and domestic sales vary significantly among different entertainment agencies.

When classifying the major four entertainment companies, HYBE and JYP Entertainment can be grouped together, while SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment can be grouped together. In particular, HYBE and JYP Entertainment have a higher proportion of overseas sales compared to domestic sales, whereas SM and YG Entertainment have a higher proportion of domestic sales.

HYPE & JYP

In particular, HYBE’s export sales proportion last year accounted for approximately 63.67% of its total sales and amounted to about 1.3867 trillion won (approx 1 billion USD). In contrast, the agency’s domestic sales generated in South Korea amounted to about 788.2 billion won (approx 583 million USD), showing a significant difference compared to export sales.

Compared to 2022, there were no significant changes in HYBE’s proportions of export and domestic sales last year. However, there was a slight decrease in the proportion of revenue from the North American market, which accounted for 30.95% of the total revenue in 2022 but decreased to 25.25% in 2023, with the share shifting to Asia and the domestic market. 

The proportion of revenue from the Asian market increased by approximately 2.18 percentage points from 2022 to 34.16% last year, while the proportion of domestic sales increased by 2.73 percentage points from 33.46% in 2022 to 36.19% last year.

The decrease in the proportion of revenue from the North American market for HYBE is a result of BTS, known for their massive overseas influence, entering military service. 

In the case of JYP Entertainment, according to the financial report released on March 18, the proportion of overseas sales revenue accounts for approximately 55.72% of the agency’s total revenue. Particularly, the export sales revenue amounted to about 315.6 billion won (approx 233 million USD), while the domestic sales revenue amounted to about 250.8 billion won (approx 185 million USD).

Although the absolute values of overseas and domestic sales revenue are not significantly different, a notable aspect of JYP Entertainment is the increase in the growth rate of export sales revenue. 

To specify, JYP’s overseas sales revenue last year increased by 91% compared to 2022, while domestic sales revenue increased by approximately 38.71% compared to 2022, indicating a larger growth trend in export sales.

The increase in JYP Entertainment’s overseas sales is attributed to the increased recognition in international markets for groups like Stray Kids and TWICE. Stray Kids achieved four consecutive No. 1 rankings on the Billboard 200 chart with their mini-album “5-Star” – an achievement only behind BTS in the K-pop market. 

Meanwhile, TWICE’s popularity is also significant. Last year, TWICE achieved 2nd place on the Billboard 200 chart with their mini-album “READY TO BE” released in March and ranked on the chart for 5 consecutive weeks.

SM & YG

SM Entertainment has a significantly higher proportion of domestic sales compared to other companies. According to the financial report released on March 22nd, the company’s 2023 overseas sales revenue amounted to approximately 302.4 billion won (approx 223 million USD), while domestic sales revenue amounted to about 658.6 billion won (approx 487 million USD), accounting for 68.53% of the total revenue.

However, similar to JYP, SM’s growth rate of export sales revenue is larger than that of domestic sales revenue. While domestic sales revenue increased by about 8% compared to the previous year, export sales revenue increased by approximately 24.98%. 

This growth is influenced by the international promotion of groups like aespa and NCT DREAM. Last year, both groups were selected as “K-Pop Stars to Watch” by Billboard.

On the other hand, YG Entertainment has similar proportions of domestic and export sales revenue, but the increase in domestic sales revenue is significantly greater than the increase in overseas sales revenue. 

To elaborate, YG Entertainment’s export sales revenue accounted for approximately 47.29% of the company’s total revenue, at about 269.2 billion won (approx 199 million USD). Meanwhile, YG’s domestic sales revenue was about 299.9 billion won  (approx 222 million USD), which is not significantly different in absolute value. 

However, unlike JYP and SM Entertainment, YG’s domestic sales revenue increased by 96.33% compared to the previous year, while export sales revenue increased by only 18.07%.

Kim Heon-sik, a popular culture critic, analyzed this, saying, “One aspect is that YG’s major artist BLACKPINK did not engage in many overseas activities. The increase in domestic sales may be the opposite effect of not focusing on overseas activities.” 

He also further evaluated, “Of course, the achievements of BLACKPINK as a whole are important. However, the future activities of groups like TREASURE and BABYMONSTER are more crucial. An increase in domestic market sales is not always a good thing because there is an urgent need for a generational change of artists.”

Source: Naver